Allison Kesse & Sarah Kesse, Kidney Recipient & Living Kidney Donor

I received one of the greatest gifts possible, a donated kidney, from my sister Sarah on July 2, 2013. My sister as my donor and myself as the recipient had to wrap our heads around everything that was going to happen in this process.  The journey to get my donated kidney was a long one but it was one that I would not change for anything.

When I asked Sarah why she donated this gift to me, she said “When you see someone that has had their entire life flipped upside down by something that they couldn’t help or change, and that person happens to also be your youngest sibling, you try everything you can to help. I donated to help my sister live a normal life.”

For anyone who is awaiting transplant, you just have to keep going and take one day at a time because everything will get better and there is an end in sight.  If someone came to me interested in becoming a living donor I would tell them to please sign up, the gift you are going to give someone will change their life forever and it’s a gift they will never forget.

One way my life has forever changed is being more cautious of my overall health. By sharing our story, mine and my sister’s, I feel it makes people more aware of their health and how vital it is. And maybe they will change their mind about becoming an organ donor. People should become donors because they could be the one thing that could change a person’s life forever by one selfless act.

-Allison Kesse, Kidney Recipient & Sarah Kesse, Living Kidney Donor